Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-09-27
STURGEON FISHING.



Existing Business
There is at least slo0 900 invested in
the sturgeon fishing interest in the New
Jersey end of the line, with headquar-
ters at Bay Side. Cumberland County.
The sturgeon grows rapidly. and a fish
of six years old weighs 500 poands- A
big sturgeon yields from Alto 6 Yankee
buckets Of roe like unto shad roe with
sarger eggs. which are first rubbed
through a coarse sieve. then sailed and
rubbed through finer sieve till the
fiber Is disengagcd from the egg. and
the remainder. after draining. is
emptied into kegs and becomes what
Shakespeare calls ''caviarc to the
general" II Is then shipped via New
York 10 Europe, where the supply Is
not equal 10 the demand. The modus
eperandi with sturgeon is TO cut of
his tail and lei him bleed. the large
artery running through the tail. The
roe is then taken out of the live fish,
A broad-axs Is used to decapitate the
fish. then the skin is taken of, the
back bone or cartilage is then taken
ont with q sharp knife and leaves two
sturgeon sides homeless. The fish is
thoroughly wiped ont with course
whalebone broom. then the flesh is put
into an ice-box and is shipped TO New
fork. where it readily sells as good
.Alhanv beef II the market is
glutied the sturgeon meat is kept till
TN - a.. L. hn..sa - n fnu.rnratfxra
OF four degrees below zero. and Is
then found good eating. The heal.
tail and backbo furnish the famons
sturgeon oil.
The sturgeon has no weapon of de-
Tense against the shark, and flies from
this lawyer of The sea. ! found two
sturgeon In the haul made by moon
light with the entire nose bitten of by
shark A net entirely dry weighs
500 pounds. the cotton-laid Irvine alone
weighing 500 pounds. costing twenty
cents pounsi. The meshes Of the net
are from thirteen to fifteen inches
wide. and sixteen-frot board, twelve
inches wide. can be shot through the
net, 20 no shad or small fish are ever
caught i'm sturgeon net A sixty
pound rock is sometimes found in the
sturgeon gill net. The net is l.S2s
feet long, seven feet uader water, with
DO lead or other sinker. the weight of
the Irvine holding The net down. The
float for cork) remains on top of the wa
ter fast 10 the lany ard. which is fast
10 the fioat- AT each drift. say iwn
hours before low water. from one to
ten surgeons Is the usual catch, and
the cork indicates when big fish gets
his gills entangled in the meshes OF
The net The fish yields easily TO fate
and shows no game.
The water at Tampa is transparent,
and spear Is used 10 kill the fish. bui
the fisherman is desperately yexed with
what he calls foul fish. the sawtisi
and devilfish. The latter, weighing
l.60o pounds. frequently tear a net t.
pieces. and the sight Of sawiisl
drives the fisherman TO shore. Ere
quently a 400-pound green turtle j
bagged with no market for turtle.
The sturgeon feeds down on the bot
tom on the crustacea, and can be seeI
roofing like hog on the bottom. Thu
savants or scientists have never dis
covered where the S urgeon spawns
and il may be in the Black Sea or il
Delaware Bay, where the huge she
sturgeon has been seen to shed he
spawn on the surface of the bay O
l. a 4. A III a
AT Bay Side. as soon as the fish find
himself entangied in the fourteen inc
meshes of the net. he founders TO tn
surface. and he stalwart piscator
with an iron hook. strikes the fish Of
the head and hauls the fighting stur
geon into the boat The fish strike
hard with his tail when landed in th'
boat Bay Side az ~ Cor. NJ ]
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